Geosciences Directorate Has Highest Growth Rate in NSF Budget Request

18 May 2009 -- Under President Obama’s budget request for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Geosciences Directorate would have the highest growth rate among NSF’s research directorates in FY 2010. The growth rate of NSF’s Geosciences Directorate has not been in the top tier in recent years. In newly released data, the President’s FY 2010 budget request for NSF’s Geosciences Directorate is $909 million, an increase of $102 million or 12.6 percent above the FY 2009 current plan.

Within NSF’s Geosciences Directorate, the President’s FY 2010 budget request for the Earth Sciences is $187 million, an increase of $16 million or 9.3 percent above the FY 2009 current plan. The budget request for Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences is $269 million, an increase of $25 million or 10.0 percent. The budget request for Ocean Sciences is $359 million, an increase of $29 million or 8.7 percent. The budget request for Integrative and Collaborative Education and Research is $94 million, an increase of $33 million or 53.5 percent.

Under the President’s FY 2010 budget request, the growth rates for selected NSF research directorates are 6.9 percent for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences, 9.9 percent for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 11.8 percent for Biological Sciences, and 12.6 percent for Geosciences.

As previously announced, the President’s FY 2010 budget request for the National Science Foundation is $7.045 billion, an increase of $555 million or 8.5 percent above the FY 2009 current plan. The FY 2010 budget request for NSF’s Research and Related Activities is $5.733 billion, an increase of $550 million or 10.6 percent. The FY 2010 budget request for NSF’s Education and Human Resources account is $858 million, an increase of $13 million or 1.5 percent. The FY 2010 budget request for NSF’s Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction account is $117 million, a decrease of $35 million or 22.8 percent.

NSF received $3.0 billion in economic stimulus funds, but these one-time funds are not included in the base budget for NSF’s FY 2009 current plan. Additional information about NSF’s FY 2010 budget request is available at www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2010/.